Please note: this page contains reviews and opinions sent in by Berkeley Parents Net subscribers. Your own experience may be different. Please always check references before hiring!

It's the new year, and we're trying to clean house. We have large wall closets (not walk-ins) that are a mess. Can I hear from those who have had good experiences with custom closet designers (California Closets, others?) and off-the-shelf (elfa, others?). Have they endured over the years? Btw, we went to the California Closets in Concord, and they're now closed. Thanks. Esther

We are planning to organize the closets for two children's rooms and I wanted to get more current opinions about options that might be available to us. We looked at Ikea but their systems wont fit in out closets. We can use the closetmaid products at home depot but before we bought that I wanted to see if anyone has recommendations about any alternatives that we can look at. Sharie

it isn't super cheap, but it is reconfigurable as your needs change, which is cool. We went to the Walnut Creek Container Store. They have big Elfa sales a few times a year, so look for those. Here is a link to the Container Store's Elfa webpage: http://www.containerstore.com/elfa/index.html Mary

I want to get a built-in corner desk/storage for my new home office, and am looking for recent recommendations. Checked out the CA closets site -- lots of glossy photos but low on info, esp. price. Has anyone used the Concord outlet of CA closets? Or any other companies with good results? anne

They have a showroom at the San Francisco Design Center, which is just about all closet and office configurations, so you could go over there to see what they do and talk to someone. Otherwise, you could call them and they'll come out with a portfolio to show you. They do some very high-end work (tech billionaires, baseball players, conference rooms for Cisco Systems, etc., but they also do the basic laundry room and cabinetry for regular folks like me...trust me, I am not a rich, will-pay-whatever-it-costs type). So, don't be scared off by the fact that they are at the Design Center or that they do high-end stuff. Their prices are pretty good and the service is good. Plus, they have great ideas and are good problem solvers.

You can tell them Mary in Moraga referred you. Their number: IDG/Closet Innovations, 800-971-7900 Mary

Would you recommend Closet World? We have just gotten an estimate from Closet World for some closets, cupboards, & bookshelves to be in a future family room (converted garage). The estimate seems high, but I have no experience in these things, so it could be OK. It's a smallish space (350 sq ft) with odd sizings of things, it took their person 3 hr. to measure things (as well as discuss with me, advise and help me figure out what would work.) What is reasonable to pay per lineal foot? The material is melamine, not solid wood. If anyone has recent good/excellent experience with another local company (e.g. California Closets, Closet Innovations) I would be grateful to hear about it too. Thanks.

We used Closets-by-Design(closetsbydesign.com), but got bids from a few of the other companies. Our experience was that California closets was at least double but really triple the cost of the closets-by-design bid. Closet-world sounded good but I didn't groove on their sales person (doubted that he knew the product, didn't think he was a very intelligent designer). The best bet for us was getting some suggestions from multiple designers because our orignial design was improved by the ideas from the other bids (some better use of space) and we now have something that really works well for us.

Also, Closet's by design meant it when they said it. They gave us an install date, and they were here on that date and exactly on time (important because it was 2 weeks before we had a baby). Their showroom is down by OAK airport and you can see the plant there where the stuff is locally made. Also, they use their own installers not contractors (check this especially if you go to Home Depo EXPO), because they can control the quality and workmanship. Their installers were very clean and careful. Recently, we needed some extra shelf hangers, and they just mailed them to me, no extra charge. My woodworker/cabinet maker grandfather was very surprised that the closet wasn't wood and that it looked so good. --a very proud organized closet owner

We need a basic closet organizer system with some shelving and double hanging in our kids' bedroom closet. It should be pretty simple, and I know what we need (I'm not really interested in a ''free in-home design consultation'') but the type of DIY components available at Home Depot and its ilk can't be arranged the way we need them, and I'm thinking that for once (since I've got a 3-month-old and a 3-year- old to manage) it might be nice to have someone else wield the drill. So, does anyone have any experience with California Closets, Closets By Design, the Closet Factory, and/or any similar companies to share? Did you compare prices? Are you happy with the quality of the product? How was the service? Alternatively, have you ordered components from EasyClosets.com or a similar business and installed it yourself? Any comments pro or con on going that route? (I have plenty of carpentry skill, just a lack of time and patience right now.) Thanks! Holly

We used California Closets to build storage units in our garage which have made much better use of the space. They are best known for building closets/wardrobes, however. The materials are of good quality, and because they come and do the measurements and discuss your storage needs with you, you'll end up with a customized result that makes best use of the space. It cost around $1200 to have four huge 10'tall, 4' wide storage units built, with shelves and secured/earthquake proofed. I imagine a wardrobe would be much, much less. The design and estimate was free, and I have often seen coupons for discounts on installation in the paper or magazines. They are located in Concord, but will come to your home. (800) 274-6754.
Natasha